Raaga Based Song Of The Day #56 – Another Tribute To My Late Mother

Whilst this is a great song, no doubt, I am sure this is the first time someone would have made use of the song to remember his late mother. Now, why did I do it? There are several reasons. The first one is that the lyrics (don’t forget I am a Lyrical man) are most appropriate to express my feelings after my mother has gone to reside with God. Take this, for example:

The second is that if you can take a filmy-song tune to make a bhajan (hymn) – and in the temples there are quite a few of them – why can’t I take this superb song in remembrance of my mother?

The third, of course, is that the raag happens to be Jhinjhoti, a raag named after an apsara and my most favourite song in Hindi movies happens to be in this raag; which I have always decided, for emotional reasons, never to put up: Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam. If you recall, my first postin the series was in Raag Jhinjhoti titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge. It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

The fourth is that I am very fond of Hemant Kumar and this song has his composition as a music director.

Last, but not the least is that it has been sung by Lata Mangeshkar and my fondness for her singing is already well-known (Please read: ‘My Favourite Songs Of Lata Mangeshkar‘). My mom used to say that in me (being the middle child between my elder sister and younger brother) she obtained both a son and a daughter since, whilst looking after all those things that only a man can, I never shied from working in the kitchen or doing those things too that women do so well. Hence, it is not inappropriate for me to select a Lata Mangeshkar song to express my sentiments.

My last post, that is, the fifty-fifth post was also a tribute to my late mother who suddenly passed away on 09 Aug 17. It was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #55‘ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi song from the 1955 SU Sunny movie Udan Khatola: O door ke musaafir, hamko bhi saath le le re, ham reh gaye akele. It is in Raag Pahadi, Tal Kaherava.

In the last fifty-five days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati and Hamir. The only three raag that has been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag and Raag Kirwani. That makes a total of 49 raagas so far; today’s one too I am repeating: Raag Jhinjhoti.

Today, I give you a song, in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava, one of the best of Lata Mangeshkar.

However, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. Today, we shall learn about Santoor.

(Pic courtesy: South Asian Arts UK)

Just like Veena, Santoor is an ancient instrument of India. It was origibnally called Shata-tantri Veena which means a Veena of shata or hundred strings. I already brought out to you in an earlier post that Veena wasn’t a specific instrument at one time; any string instrument used to be called Veena at one time. I had already brought out that the first of these was called Pinaki-Veena (Please refer to ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #48‘). Interestingly, Pinaki Veena was created from the idea of bow and arrow; as the latter was released from the bow, it made a sound. It is similar to Western instrument Harp. Its miniature version is called Swarmandal, that we shall take up later.

Santoor is a hollow box made of walnut. Atop the box are 25 bridges, each having four strings resting on it. Two wooden mallets, one each balanced in each hand are used to paly Santoor.

(Pic courtesy: indianetzone.com)

The most populzar image of Santoor player is that of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma; I have listened to him live many times. It was actually his father Pandit Umadutt Sharma who brought this instrument from Kashmir wherein it was used with Sufi music and introduced it into Indian classical music.

Shivkumar Sharma was initiated into classical music at the age of five as a vocalist and tabla player. He later became so adept at playing Santoor that the name Shivkumar Sharma and Santoor became inseparable. Indeed, he improved its tonal quality, its playing technique, in the range and bhaav of music.

The modified Santoor which Shivkumar Sharma plays now has got 31 bridges, with a total number of 91 strings. It has got a range of 3 octaves and chromatic tuning.

As I mentioned, today’s song is composed in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

Raag Jhinjhoti is a raag of Khammaj Thaat. Its Jati is Audhav-Sampurna, that is five notes ascending (Aaroha) and all seven notes in descending (Avaroha). The time for the raag is second Prahar of the night (nine PM to midnight). Jhinjhoti is regarded as a light raag. Nevertheless it is practised in both dhrupad and khayal tradition by vocalists as well instrumentalists. The raag is commonly used in semi-classical genres of tappa and thumri that I have already told you about.

Most songs in Hindi movies that have been composed in Raag Jhinjhoti have an element of self-pity about them. Some of the songs composed in this raaga are:

As far as Tal Kaherava is concerned, I have already told you enough about this most popular Tal.

Of course, I have made use of the song in memory of my late mother. The song, originally, is from the 1957 Nandlal Jaswantlal movie Champakali starring Bharat Bhushan, Suchitra Sen and Pran. The song was penned by Shimla man Rajinder or Rajindra (he used both spellings) Krishan that has my mom’s name in part (Harkrishan). Rajinder Krishan was the richest lyricist in Hindi movies and my mom was thje richest person at heart that I know of.

2 Comments

Lovely n heart rending song in order to purgation of soul . If one listen it closing his eyes and feeling melancholic , this song would provide catharsis and he would be a changed man , when he opens his eyes . These raga based posts are now at their best .

About me

I have done a long stint in the Indian Navy that lasted for nearly thirty seven years; I rose as far as my somewhat rebellious and irreverant nature allowed me to. On retirement, in Feb 2010, the first thing that occured to me, and those around me, was that I Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (you will find an article with this title in this blog) and hadn't lost all my noodles and hence thought of a blog titled 'This 'n That'. I later realised that every third blog is called 'This 'n That' and changed the name to 'Sunbyanyname'.
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